Rising Sun Middle School Book Fair helps media center

by Lisa Tome
Contributing editor

    Katelyn Hamilton washed dishes and did other chores around the house to earn books from the Rising Sun Middle School Book Fair.
    Hamilton's mother paid Katelyn for the chores she completed. Katelyn's purchase of $21.17 also helped buy books for the school library.
    "I read every day for fun. I liked the book fair a lot this year. They have a lot of books that go along with different movies," said Hamilton, who left the fair with romance, mystery, and adventure books.

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    Lorie Bounds started coordinating the school's book fair a half dozen years ago. She has continued despite the fact that her children have moved on from the school. The school hosts the fair for more than a week. She said one of the biggest challenges is finding volunteers who will provide staffing.
    "I've been doing it six years and I'm still doing it with no kids in the school," said Bounds. "It is like running a store for a week. It's a lot of responsibility, but the kids really like it."
    Typically, the school hosts two book fairs each school year. This year, due to scheduling issues, they'll only have one. Each fair generally earns $1,500 worth of books and materials for the media center.
    Anne Polakovic, the media specialist at Rising Sun Middle, said a last minute book fair may be held at the end of the school year. That way students can stock up for summer.
    Popular books this year are the Divergent series and "A Thunderous Whisper". Tried and true favorites are "Ripley's Believe it or Not", "Guinness Book of World Records", and the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series
    Cheat code books for video games remain popular. Volunteers at the book fair said boys tend to buy books featuring sports, World War II, and the Navy Seals. Girls gravitate toward books featuring movie stars and singers.